I went to Dubai!!! ...to the country that I've been hearing so much about on TV and in newspapers and magazines in the last few years. ...to the United Arab Emirates!

The outline and overall goals for my visit were to research and check out the market, as well as the transportation situation and overall road conditions in the country, which was among the first international locations to contact us with questions and orders. Also, I was interested in information about local Bentley owners and Japan's image.

First, my impressions of Dubai before I went there...

One of the things that I learned on my trip is that the car market in Dubai was slightly disappointing, but the market in Abu Dhabi (the UAE capital) was very impressive.

They (Abu Dhabi) are even planning on holding an F1 Grand Prix there in October '09.

And wow, it's hot! The high temperature on my trip was 37, the low temperature 24, and humidity was 48 percent. (By comparison, Japan had a high of 28.4 degrees, a low of 12.5 degrees, and

Though even with the temperature 10 degrees higher than Japan, the lower humidity makes it easier to tolerate.

As I left Centrair airport on Thursday evening (May 22nd), I noticed my schedule was 5-days/2-nights, and, as always, very hectic.

I landed in Dubai at 4:45AM on Friday (23rd), and headed to my acquaintance's home city of Sharjah.

But... what? In the UAE, apparently Friday is equivalent to Japan's Sunday (and Thursday to Saturday). What's more, everyone starts praying at noon, and then goes to sleep until 4 pm!

Mosque: An Islamic place of worship.

In addition, there were other surprises and experiences that I can't quite go into detail about on this blog. But following my experience in China, I was again able to learn a great deal on this trip.

Next I'll show you some images detailing my 5-day/2-night adventure!

Day 1

A gasoline stand

Just as I would expect from an oil country! Japan is up in a ruckus about soaring gas prices, but over here 1 liter is... approximately 50 yen! (Japan: apx. 170 yen/liter)

Bentley Dubai

Bentley Dubai's Bugatti (?) and Manager I got to ride it (just sitting...)

Central Dubai, which I only just passed through.

Day 2

A car dealer in Abu Dahbi (the UAE's Tokyo) whom I visited

Day 3

I got a call from my office, informing me that an Abu Dhabi car dealer was trying to contact me to arrange a meeting, "I'll pick you up soon." ...so I waited 30 minutes.

It's a little off topic but the road to Abu Dhabi is an incredible, unbroken, straight line, and takes roughly 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Riding in a rented white Chevrolet for 3 hours, we finally arrived and got I a chance to see one of the car dealers that I didn't have time for the previous day.
After about 1 1/2 hours discussing cars (Bentleys)...

........................."You should come to Abu Dhabi, I'll make a company for you."
？？？？？？
Pardon???

Asked when I would be going back to Japan, I told him this evening, and then...

"Let's take a week and go on a desert vacation.".....????

I was a little panicked. (I accidentally called him "Your Highness")

* My business partner (Left)

PS, Your Highness, thank you very much for all the gifts and souvenirs!

We finished our conversation and got ready to leave.

Overall, the UAE was a stunning and impressive country.

Not only that, about 10 minutes after I got back to Centrair Airport, my business partner called me to ask "When are you coming next?"

Next time, I really want to check out the desert!